Episode 129: High-Conflict Divorce and Family Court Advocacy with Tina Swithin
My guest, Tina Swithin, survived a \u201cCategory Five Divorce Hurricane,\u201d while acting as her own attorney in a high-conflict custody battle that turned her family\u2019s life upside down for over a decade. Tina is the author of Divorcing a Narcissist and the founder of One Mom\u2019s Battle. She continues to champion children\u2019s rights through her family court advocacy and works to raise awareness of the issues in the family court system and to educate the general public on post-separation abuse and narcissistic abuse.\xa0\nShow Highlights\n\nTina shares her journey of becoming an \u201caccidental\u201d author and family court advocate - and how she came to grips with the fact that she couldn\u2019t fix her ex\u2019s narcissism, and would either need to accept this was her life or move on.\xa0\n\n\u201cIt took me almost six years to really see who my ex-husband was. I can't go into family court and expect that the judge is just going to see that this person is a problem...It's a marathon to get to the point where they do recognize who the problem person [is in the relationship]. \u201d\n\nFamily court is simply not equipped to deal with high-conflict divorce proceedings, plus some of the aspects that are broken.\n\nThe aftermath of divorcing a narcissist: post-separation abuse.\n\nLearn More About Tina:\nTina Swithin survived a \u201cCategory Five Divorce Hurricane\u201d while acting as her own attorney in a high-conflict custody battle that turned her family\u2019s life upside down for over a decade. While divorces are never easy, Tina quickly learned that a divorce involving a narcissist takes the term, \u201chigh-conflict\u201d to a level that few can comprehend. To articulate what was happening, she took shelter from the storm by chronicling her journey in her (now) internationally recognized blog, \u201cOne Mom\u2019s Battle.\u201d Tina\u2019s plight grew from just one mom to a village of tens of thousands who all share the same story. There were different variations and nuances, but the common denominator is toxic, high conflict individuals, and post-separation abuse.\xa0\xa0\nWith all odds against her, Tina\u2019s battle came to an end on August 30, 2019, when she successfully terminated her ex-husband\u2019s parental rights. Tina has chosen to assume the title of survivor versus victim and has become an advocate for change in the Family Court System after seeing the flaws first-hand. Tina believes that the courts have lost sight of their primary focus, which should be the best interest of the child and instead, are too focused on parental rights. Tina believes that children are suffering unnecessarily due to the lack of education on the front lines\u2014and behind the judicial bench.\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\nTina Swithin is the author of Divorcing a Narcissist (series) and founder of the High Conflict Divorce Coach Certification Program. Tina Swithin has been awarded honors such as the \u201cTop 20 Professionals Under 40\u201d and the \u201cTop 40 Professionals Under 40\u201d in several regional California newspapers. Tina resides in San Luis Obispo, California with her husband and her two daughters.\nResources & Links:Show notes and links can be also be found at: https://kateanthony.com/podcast/high-conflict-divorce-and-family-court-advocacy-with-tina-swithin/\nTina's website Tina on Facebook\xa0 Tina on Instagram Donate to the Thrive Fund Should I Stay or Should I Go (Kate\u2019s Program)\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices